Injured
by Today-Only-Happens-Once
Summary: Ash and Meghan are outnumbered by Iron Fey in the midst of battle, when Meghan gets hurt. Oneshot. Mash  Meghan X Ash  fluff. Please read and review! Rated T for violence only. :


**Hey! I wasn't going to post this orginially, but thought "what the hey!" and here it is. If you are one of my Outsiders followers, please don't yell at me. I promise my chapter is on the way…I'm just having some challenges writing it. :D **

**This is for Mash lovers. It's fluffy. OH, and it picks up in the middle of a battle, and I guess if you were to give it a time within the series it would be a "what if…" from book 3. Enjoy!**

Iron fey were everywhere. We were drastically outnumbered. Basically, I felt like we were doomed.

I was spinning madly, desperately trying to fight off the attacks. Ash was having his own problems, being forced to fight off even more than I was. One of the knights lunged at me and I twisted frantically, but not nearly quick enough. The blade lodged itself in my side and I gasped.

Even though my gasp was lost amongst the clatter of metal, Ash seemed to hear it. My gaze was coming in and out of focus, but I could tell that he was fighting frenziedly, and soon the area had cleared, as knights either fled or fell to Ash's sword. And then suddenly, he was beside me, his eyes bright with concern, his hand on my face.

"Meghan," he said, brushing the hair out of my sweat-soaked face. His eyes glanced down to my stomach, where my arms were wrapped around tightly. I was shaking with pain, gasping as I tried to catch my breath. His hand left my face and dropped down to my stomach, prying my arms away to give him a better look. He rolled my shirt up gently, wincing when I cried out in pain as the cloth was separated from the wound. He looked at it for a short heartbeat.

"I need a healer!" Ash yelled. Someone—Clearly a female Winter fey—that I didn't recognize knelt next to him, asking him questions and pulling things out of a bag.

"How did this happen?"

Ash answered, calmly. "She was fighting and was outnumbered and was stabbed in her lower left side."

The healer asked lots of other questions, like "what kind of blade was it?" and "how deep do you think the wound is?"

The pain in my stomach was almost unbearable. Ash knelt at me head, grabbing my hand and running a hand through my hair. Strangely, it calmed me down a little bit.

"Alright, this is going to hurt, but I need you to keep as still as possible, okay?" the healer said. I nodded quickly, stopping suddenly when the ground tilted. My head was pounding and my stomach was burning. My vision was beginning to flicker. Ash's grip on my hand tightened, and he shifted so that my head was in his lap. I gave him a pained smile, and he just squeezed my hand again.

The pain in my stomach was suddenly sharper and stronger, making my vision go white for a moment, and I sucked in a breath, biting back a scream. I could feel Ash cringe ever so slightly. Tears swam in the corner of my eyes and Ash placed his palm on my cheek. "Squeeze my hand, if you need to," he whispered in my ear. I complied, forcing all of the pain into that hand and squeezing it. This was Ash. I wasn't concerned about hurting him.

I really wasn't sure how long it had taken, minutes or even hours, but eventually the pain went down to where it was before and I loosened my death grip on Ash's hand. I gasped in a breath, not realizing that I had been holding it in. I was aware that the healer said something to me, but I couldn't make out what she said, or what Ash said in reply. Something was placed to my lips, and I drank it, not even caring exactly what it was.

The pain was gone almost instantly, but Ash told me to stay lying down for a few minutes before I tried to stand. He was silent, but he still had yet to release my hand.

"Ash?" I asked, my voice much quieter than I thought it would be.

"Mmm?"

"Can I get up now?" The ground was hard and uncomfortable.

Ash hesitated. "Do you think you can walk?"

I thought for a moment. "No," I admitted. "But this ground is really hard."

Ash smiled slightly, but it was gone the next moment. "Alright."

He let go of my hand and slipped his arm around my back, helping me to sit up. The ground spun and I placed my palms down flat on it, getting my surroundings to stop moving before I let Ash help me stand.

He didn't say anything until we were in his tent, which took longer than normal. Ash let me set the pace, showing no impatience or hurry. He had offered to carry me, saying that the less I jostled the stitches in my side the better, but I declined. I didn't need rumors spreading through the camp and neither did Ash. But other than that, he was silent and his lack of words was starting to bug me.

"What's wrong?" he asked, sitting me down on the cot before standing up to put his sword in the corner.

I sighed. "It's…nothing." Ash raised an eyebrow, a silent challenge.

"Why won't you talk to me?" I asked, quietly.

Ash stopped and turned around to look at me. "What?"

"You didn't say a thing on the way here and…" I trailed off, a blush creeping onto my cheeks.

Ash sighed, turning away again and taking his time in placing his sword on the ground. I caught a glimpse of an aura surrounding Ash before it vanished again. But I knew what it was. Guilt.

"It's not your fault, Ash."

Ash sighed again, turning to face me. "I'm sorry, Meghan."

I shook my head. "Really, Ash. This isn't your fault. It's no one's fault but my own for being so careless-"

"You weren't being careless," Ash murmured. "You were outnumbered. I should have been looking out for you better."

He sat down next to me and I wrapped my arms around his waist. "You were fighting off more than I was. You kind of had your hands tied."

Ash trembled slightly before getting himself back in control. "When that sword went in to your side…" he paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "My first thought was that I had lost you. That you were going to die right before my eyes…" he trailed off. "I can't lose you, Meghan. I just…can't."

I tightened my arms around him. "You won't lose me that easily."

Ash twisted in my arms to face me. "And what if I do? Meghan, you said it yourself that even master swordsmen make mistakes."

I didn't have a reply to that. "I'm okay, Ash. Really."

His eyes softened, brushing a strand of hair away from my eyes. "Are you sure? I mean…you were in some serious pain…"

I nodded. "I'm sure." I leaned forward and kissed him. He kissed me back, but he was gentle, like he was afraid that I would break. We pulled apart, and he rested his forehead on mine.

"You should get some rest." He stood up, but I grabbed his hand and his fingers relaxed over mine.

"Please stay."

Ash didn't even hesitate before he was sitting next to me again, and I leaned my head on his shoulder and eventually fell asleep.

**Cheesy, I know, but I was in the mood for some Mash fluff. Clearly I'm on Team Ash…though I don't think I've ever debated over something like that more than I did with Puck and Ash. Looking forward to the next book: **_**The Iron Knight**_**. WOO!**


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